Three  Years  of   Home  Mission   Work  in,  Asheville 
Presbytery. 


BY  REV.  R.  F,  CAMPBELL,  D.  D. 


When  in  the  fall  of  1896  the  Synod  of  North  Carolina 
set  off  a  part  of  .the  Presbytery  of  Mecklenburg  to  form 
the  Presbytery  of  Asheville,  it  was  not  making  a  new 
departure.  It  was  only  taking  another  step  in  the  for- 
ward policy  pursued  from  the  beginning. 

From  1770  to  1795  the  Presbytery  of  Orange  included 
the  whole  State  of  North  Carolina.  In  the  latter  year, 
the  Synod  of  the  "Carolinas  created  a  new  Presbytery  out 
of  the  counties  west  of  the  Yadkin  river,  giving  it  the 
name  of  Concord. 

In  18 1 2  the  Presbytery  of  Orange  was  again  divided 
by  the  setting  off  of  the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville. 

A'  few  years  later  Fayetteville  in  turn  was  cut  in 
twain,  and  the  southwestern  half  of  its  territory  re- 
ceived the  name  of  Wilmington. 

In  1889  the  Synod  created  the  Presbytery  of  Albe- 
marle out  of  parts  of  Wilmington  and  Orange,  thus 
making  four  Presbyteries  east  of  the  Yadkin. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  same  process  of  division  had 
begun  west  of  the  river.  In  1869  the  Synod  divided  the 
Presbytery  of  Concord,  by  setting  off  seventeen  coun- 
ties to  form  the  Presbytery  of  Mecklenburg.  In  1896 
Mecklenburg  in  turn  came  under  the  knife,  and,  by  a 
surgical  operation  not  entirely  free  from  pain,  the  eleven 
counties  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge  mountains  were  cut  off 
to  constitute  the  Presbytery  of  Asheville. 

Presbyterianism  in  North  Carolina  has  multiplied  by 
division.  The  old  Presbytery  of  Orange  has  become 
seven  ;  instead  of  twenty-three  ministers  there  are  now 
one  hundred  and  sixty-three  ;  and  trie  few  hundred  mem- 
bers have  become  thirty-five  thousand  strong.  A  hun- 
dred years  ago  a  handful  of  Presbyterian  corn  was  cast 
into  the  soil  of  North  Carolina.  The  fruit  thereof  now 
shakes  like  Lebanon. 


(1) 


When  in  1869  the  Presbytery  of  Mecklenburg  was 
erected,  it  had  on  its  roll  23  ministers  and  39  churches. 
The  communicants  numbered  3,376.  The  contributions 
to  Home  Missions  amounted  to  $2,753,  to  Foreign  Mis- 
sions $738. 

In  the  spring  of  1896,  before  the  erection  of  Ashe- 
ville  Presbytery,  Mecklenburg  reported  41  ministers,  86 
churches,  8,746  members,  $5,235  for  Home  Missions  and 
$6,216  for  Foreign  Missions.  This  is  a  net  gain,  in  27 
years  of  18  ministers,  or  nearly  80  per  cent.;  of  47 
churches,  or  120  per  cent.;  of  5,370  communicants  or 
160  per  cent.;  of  $^,482  in  annual  contributions  to  the 
cause  of  Home  Missions  or  nearly  100  per  cent.;  of  $5,- 
478  in  annual  contributions  to  For&ign  Missions,  or 
nearly  800  per  cent. 

The  Presbytery  of  Mecklenburg  as  originally  constitu- 
ted was,  to  borrow  the  parlance  of  gerrymandering  poli- 
tics, "a  shoe-string  district."  The  extreme  length  of 
the  territory  was  not  far  short  of  three  hundred  miles. 
Charlotte,  though  not  the  geographical  centre,  was  in 
influence  and  blue  blood  the  heart  of  the  Presbytery. 
Church  life  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  because  of  its  dis- 
tance from  the  heart,  was  suffering  from  sluggish  circu-. 
lation.  The  Synod,  therefore,  in  the  fall  of  1896,  created 
a  new  body  with  a  heart  of  its  own,  and  gave  it  the  name 
of  Asheville  Presbytery. 

The  new  Presbytery  held  its  opening  meeting  in  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  Asheville,  Dec.  2,  1896. 

I,et  us  measure  the  growth  of  this  infant  now  entering 
upon  the  fourth  year  of  her  life: 

1.  New  Organizations  and  Buildings.  Six  churches 
have  been  organized,  an  average  of  two  a  year. 

Eight  buildings  have  been  erected,  two  are  under  way 
and  three  will  probably  be  begun  as  soon  as  the  roads 
get  dry  enough  for  heavy  hauling. 

2.  Number  of  Communicants.  The  membership  has 
increased  from  1,000  to  about  1,300,  a  net  gain  of  300  or 
30  per  cent. 

During  the  same  period  of  three  years,  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  as  a  whole,  North  and  South,  has  had  a  net 
gain  of  only  about  4^2  per  cent.    That  is,  the  number  of 

(?) 


communicants  has  multiplied  nearly  seven  times  as  fast 
in  the  Presbytery  of  Asheville  as  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  throughout  the  United  States. 

3.  Contributions.  Two  great  causes  are  selected  as 
representing  the  interest  of  the  church  in  aggressive 
work  at  home  and  abroad. 

The  contributions  to  Foreign  Missions  have  increased 
from  $542  to  $982,  a  gain  of  81  per  cent. 

Home  Missions  from  $923  to  $2,484,  a  gain  of  170  per 
cent. 

4.  Gains  that  cannot  be  tabulated  or  expressed  in  fig- 
ures. Three  years  ago  Hayesville,  Murphy,  Andrews,  Bry- 
son  City  and  Dillsboro  were  under  one  pastorate.  This  large 
field  has  been  divided  into  two  groups,  and  our  working 
force  there  doubled.  There  was  no  church  building  either 
at  Dillsboro  or  Andrews.  Now  we  have  two  buildings 
(church  and  school)  at  Dillsboro,  and  one  at  Andrews. 
A  debt  of  $800  on  the  Bryson  City  Church  building  and 
another  of  $75  on  the  Hayesville  building,  both  of  long 
standing,  have  been  paid. 

Three  years  ago  the  church  at  Hendersonville  was 
grouped  with  Mills  River  and  Midway,  and  was  paying 
$300  for  half  time  of  a  pastor.  This  church  is  now  giv- 
ing $500  on  pastor's  salary,  and  with  the  aid  of  a  supple- 
ment from  the  Presbytery  is  able  to  have  a  pastor  for  the 
whole  of  his  time.  We  may  confidently  expect  this 
church  to  become  self-supporting  in  a  very  few  years. 

Three  years  ago  the  churches  of  Waynesville  and 
Bethel  wTere  receiving  a  supplement  of  $150  from  the 
Presbytery.  They  are  now  supporting  their  pastor  with- 
out aid,  and  are  growing  rapidly  in  membership  and 
strength  under  the  ministry  of  Rev.  Frank  D.  Hunt. 

Barnardsviixe.  About  two  years  ago  Messrs. Robt. 
V.  Miller  and  R.  A.  Garrett,  members  of  the  First  Church, 
Asheville,  held  religious  services  at  this  point, which  were 
blessed  to  the  conversion  of  a  considerable  number  of 
souls.  The  people  of  the  community  expressed  a  desire 
to  have  the  Presbyterian  church  begin  work  among  them 
and  in  response  to  this  invitation  Rev.  E.  MacDavis  was 
sent  to  minister  to  them.  At  that  time  there  was  not  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  that  neighborhood. 


(3) 


Now  there  are  two  church  organizations  with  about  one 
hundred  members,  and  two  church  buildings  in  course  of 
erection.  A  member  of  the  First  Church,  Asheville,  has 
given  $500  for  the  building  at  Barnardsville,  and  the  citi- 
zens of  that  place  have  donated  an  eligible  site  and  $250 
in  money  or  its  equivalent.  The  people  of  Dillingham, 
three  miles  east  of  Barnardsville,  on  Upper  Ivey  River, 
are  putting  up  the  other  building,  the  Home  Mission 
Committee  furnishing  only  hardware  and  paints.  L,and, 
lumber,  and  labor  have  also  been  offered  in  the  Barnards- 
ville field  for  manse  and  school. 

5.  Administration  and  policy.  The  work  is  adminis- 
tered by  the  Presbytery  through  a  committee  of  Home 
Missions,  the  members  of  which  are  chosen  annually  by 
the  Presbytery  upon  the  recommendation  of  a  special 
committee  on  nominations. 

The  committee  is  required  to  report  to  the  Presbytery 
semi-annualty,  and  has  no  authority  beyond  that  delega- 
ted to  it  by  this  body. 

The  committee  meets  once  a  month  in  regular  session, 
with  special  meetings  at  such  times  as  the  exigencies  of 
the  work  seem  to  demand.  The  members  have  given 
themselves  to  the  work  with  fidelity  and  enthusiasm,  no 
one  of  them  having  ever  failed  to  be  present  at  a  regular 
meeting  unless  sick  or  out  of  town. 

It  is  the  duty  of  this  Committee,  "under  the  direction 
of  Presbytery,  to  take  the  general  oversight  of  feeble 
churches,  especially  when  vacant,  and  of  missionary 
fields  in  our  bounds,  with  a  view  to  secure  for  all  desti^ 
tute  places  adequate  evangelistic  and  pastoral  laborers." 
(Manual  of  Asheville  Presbytery,  p.  10.) 

The  churches  receiving  aid  are  urged  to  advance  to  the 
point  of  self-support  as  rapidly  as  possible,  in  order  that 
the  work  may  be  extended  into  new  and  destitute  fields. 

This  is  not  an  untried  policy,  but  one  which  has  been 
in  vogue  for  many  years  in  all  the  Presbyteries,  and  in 
the  pursuance  of  which  the  Synod  of  North  Carolina  has 
made  cuch  rapid  strides  in  the  last  fifteen  years.  In  1885 
there  were  20,000  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  State;  there  are  now  35,000.  This  remarkable 
growth  is  the  result  of  a  revival  of  religion  which  began 


(4) 


in  the  Synod  fifteen  years  ago  and  which  has  been  going 
on  ever  since. 

6.  The  Guiding  and  Providing  Hand  of  God.  Mr.  Spur- 
geon,  in  speaking  of  the  founding  of  his  Pastor's  College, 
remarks  that  "it  seems  to  be  God's  plan  that  works  of 
usefulness  should  develop  themselves  in  obedience  to  a 
living  force  within,  rather  than  by  scheme  and  plan 
from  without." 

It  has  been  so  in  this  work.  The  new  Presbytery 
from  its  very  birth  seems  to  have  been  carried  along  by  a 
force  that  was  born  for  it.  The  workers  have  not  so 
much  pushed  the  work  as  they  have  been  pushed  by  it. 

And  yet  the  work  has  not  always  been  easy,  and  there 
have  been  times  when  the  way  seemed  compassed  with 
darkness.  But  the  pillar  of  cloud  has  refreshed  us  with 
its  shade  under  the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day,  and  the 
pillar  of  fire  has  shone  upon  our  way  when  God  has 
called  us  to  march  in  the  night. 

Again  and  again  have  we  been  "brought  by  a  way  we 
knew  not,  and  led  in  paths  that  we  have  not  known:  and 
he  hath  made  darkness  light  before  us  and  crooked  things 
straight. ' ' 

God's  ways  are  past  finding  out,  but  sometimes  He 
Himself  condescends  to  reveal  them,  There  have  been 
in  the  Home  Mission  work  of  Asheville  Presbytery  many 
maiked  instances  of  God's  direct  guidance  and  provision. 
Three  examples  will  be  gratefully  recorded  here: 

(i)  As  our  work  developed  we  reached  a  point  where 
it  seemed  to  the  Presbytery  almost  necessary  that  we 
should  have  an  evangelist  to  be  the  hands  and  the  feet  of 
the  Home  Mission  Committee.  The  serious  question 
arose,  How  are  we  to  get  the  means  for  this  work  ?  We 
could  not  afford  to  draw  on  the  funds  of  our  general 
treasury,  for  this  would  take  the  bread  out  of  the  mouths 
of  our  missionary  pastors.  At  this  juncture,  the  Presby- 
tery of  Mecklenburg  and  two  beloved  elders  were  moved 
to  come  to  our  aid,  and  through  their  timely  liberality 
we  have  been  enabled  to  employ  Rev.  R.  P.  Smith  for  the 
whole  of  his  time  without  cost  to  our  Presbytery.  In 
each  case  the  money  was  given  for  the  employment  of  an 
evangelist,  and  the  gift  of  one  of  the  elders  was  called 


(5) 


forth  by  his  confidence  in  the  fitness  of  the  particular 
man  whom  we  have  chosen  for  this  work. 

(2)  Among  the  strategic  points  discovered  by  Rev.  R. 
P.  Smith  and  Mr.  R.  S.  Eskridge,  in  their  investigation 
two  years  ago,  none  surpasses  the  Fine's  Creek  region  in 
Haywood  county,  especially  for  the  establishment  of  a 
good  school.  One  of  the  leading  citizens  of  that  commu- 
nity reports  that  in  the  Fine's  Creek  school  district, which 
is  six  miles  by  eight,  there  are  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
children  of  school  age.  Of  these  only  one-half  are  enroll- 
ed as  pupils  in  the  public  schools,  and  only  about  one- 
half  of  those  enrolled  attend  regularly  enough  to  get  much 
benefit,  and  those  who  attend  every  day  get  only  about 
ninety  days  schooling  in  the  year.  The  people  of  the 
district  have  from  the  beginning  shown  an  eager  desire 
to  have  us  establish  a  school. 

Again  the  question  of  means  confronted  us.  Now,  see 
how  God  wrought  for  us  ! 

Two  years  ago,  Mr.  Walter  M.  Smith,  a  Presbyterian 
elder,  and  a  prominent  merchant  of  New  York  City,  was 
sent  to  Asheville  by  his  physician  for  a  season  of  rest. 
During  his  short  stay  he  became  very  much  interested  in 
the  work  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  and  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Asheville. 
#  When  the  Home  Mission  Committee  issued  the  pam- 
phlet setting  forth  the  progress,  need  and  prospects  of 
the  work,  a  copy  was  sent  to  Mr.  Smith,  as  to  others 
who  had  shown  special  interest  in  this  cause. 

In  a  few  days  the  chairman  of  the  committee  received 
a  letter,  from  which  the  following  extract  is  made  . 

Stamford,  ConN.,  April  6,  1899. 

My  Dear  Friend: — You  may  possibty  remember  that 
I  spoke  t0  37ou  of  a  young  man,  a  convert  of  Water  Street, 
whom  we  had  sent  to  the  Bible  Institute,  Chicago.  He 
studied  there  a  year,  and  came  home  last  fall  so  full  of 
love  for  the  Word  and  for  the  Master,  that  I  was  led  to 
send  him  back  for  six  months  longer,  and  then  have  him 
to  return  to  Water  Street  as  an  assistant  missionary. 

I  visited  him  in  January.  A  more  thoroughly  conse- 
crated man  I  never  saw  or  knew.    I  wrote  him  enclosing 


(6) 


a  check  with  which  to  return,  and  we  expected  him  on 
April  4.  My  letter  reached  Chicago  March  15,  at  5.30  p. 
m.  At  7.  he  passed  away.  On  the  18th.  we  buried  him 
from  Water  St.  Mission  my  own  pastor  officiating.  It 
was  his  thirty- fourth  birthday.  He  was  born  again  on 
Oct.  8,  1895,  and  from  that  moment  he  never  lost  sight 
of  Christ  for  a  second  of  time 

Every  Lord's  Day  morning  he  preached  Christ  and 
him  crucified  to  the  inmates  of  the  county  jail,  and 
many  through  his  loving  word  were  led  to  the  foot  of 
the  Cross  and  confessed  Christ. 

When  I  received  your  note  last  night  and  read  your 
pamphlet,  I  asked  the  Lord  if  this  was  what  he  wanted 
me  to  do.    I  have  my  answer. 

If  some  poor  lost  one  will  listen  to  the  story  of  this 
poor  boy  (brought  up  a  thief,  with  no  education  except 
such  as  he  could  acquire  by  the  instruction  of  other 
thieves),  who  could  be  saved  by  grace,  could-  master  the 
Word  with  so  much  intelligence  as  to  command  the  re- 
spect and  love  of  every  one  with  whom  he  came  in  con- 
tact ;  then  let  this  be  known  as  a  fund  in  memory  of 
Ira  B.  Snyder,  the  converted  thief  of  Water  Street  Mis- 
sion, saved  by  the  grace  of  God,  October  8th,  1895;  died 
in  Chicago,  March  15th,  1899. 

Yours  faithfully, 

Walter  M.  Smith. 

The  point  selected  by  the  committee  for  the  invest- 
ment of  this  sacred  fund  is  the  Fine's  Creek  district.  In 
the  early  part  of  January  Mr.  Smith,  accompanied  by 
Mr.  S.  H.  Hadley.  the  Superintendent  of  the  Water 
Street  Mission,  made  the  long  journey  from  New  York 
to  visit  this  field.  He  was  much  impressed  by  what  he 
saw,  and  has  considerably  increased  his  original  gift. 
He  sent  us  checks  at  various  times  to  help  with  the 
building  we  were  erecting,  and  has  donated  a  beautiful 
and  sweet- toned  bell  to  "ring  out  the  old,  ring  in  the 
new."  We  expect  to  put  two  teachers  in  this  field  next 
fall,  and  are  planning  more  extensive  developments  in 
the  near  future,  as  God  may  guide. 

(3)  There  is  only  one  county  within  the  bounds  of  , 
our  Presbytery  in  which  there  is  no  Presbyterian  church, 


(7) 


Our  evangelists  reported  after  their  prospecting  tour  that 
in  this  county  there  was  only  one  completed  church 
building  of  any  denomination.  Ever  since  their  visit, 
the  people  of  this  county  have  been  sending  to  us  the 
Macedonian  cry,  "Come  over  and  help  us  !" 

Again  the  question  of  ways  and  means  confronted  us, 
and  again  we  appealed  to  him  who  has  said,  "The  silver 
and  the  gold  are  mine." 

A  member  of  the  First  Church,  Asheville,  has  prom- 
ised us  $500  for  the  erection  of  a  church  building,  and 
the  Society  of  Soul  Winners  has  engaged  through  Dr. 
Guerrant  to  put  into  our  hands  $30  a  month  towards  the 
support  of  a  minister  for  the  field.  With  this  start  we 
expect  to  begin  operations  there  as  soon  as  spring  shall 
fairly  open. 

To  carry  out  the  plan  of  establishing  and  maintaining 
both  a  church  and  a  school  at  the  county  seat,  we  shall 
need  to  have  these  gifts  supplemented  by  others. 

There  are  many  other  needy  and  promising  fields 
which  we  might  enter  at  once  if  we  had  the  means  to 
inaugurate  and  support  the  work.  This  is  our  oppor- 
tunity.   Shall  we  let  it  go  by  ? 

While  we  do  not  desire  to  draw  off  contributions  from 
other  destitute  regions,  we  earnestly  appeal  to  those  who 
feel  an  interest  in  the  mountain  work  to  aid  us  in  giving 
the  Gospel  and  Christian  education  to  those  who  are 
calling  aloud  for  these  blessings. 

Contributions  may  be  sent  to  Rev.  R.  F.  Campbell, 
chairman  of  the  Home  Mission  Committee,  or  to  Mr. 
W.  A.  Blair,  Treasurer,  Asheville,  N.  C. 

We  send  our  hearty  thanks  to  all  the  kind  friends  who 
have  helped  us  hitherto. 

Asheville,  N.  C,  March  15th,  1900. 


